The New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced he will seek to change the law so he can run for a third term in 2009.

“We may well be on the verge of a meltdown and it’s up to us to rise to the occasion,” Mr Bloomberg told a news conference.

“So should the city council vote to amend term limits, I plan to ask New Yorkers to look at my record of independent leadership and then decide if I have earned another term.”

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The mayor’s supporters believe that the billionaire businessman has the best chance of leading the city out of its financial crisis.

Mr Bloomberg, who built a highly successful financial information empire, has suggested that he might remain in office for a third term even though New York City officials are currently limited to two four-year terms.

However, such a possibility appeared significantly more likely after Ronald Lauder, the heir to the Estee Lauder cosmetics empire, swung behind the idea of a Bloomberg third term.